


The Princess and the Wanderer

by roryteller



Category: Hourou Musuko | Wandering Son
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/F, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 20:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2039673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roryteller/pseuds/roryteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nitorin is the princess of a faraway land, pining away for love of Takatsuki, the captain of the palace guard, but everything changes when a dashing stranger comes into her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Princess and the Wanderer

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks zealousprince for betaing this work.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She lived in a palace with her mother and father, the rulers of a small kingdom in the Lands of Wa. Her closest confidante was Lady Makoto, a noblewoman of her own age whose parents had sent her to court in order that she have the female companionship they felt a growing girl needed.

Princess Shuuko and Lady Makoto were soon fast friends, not least because they had something in common. At birth, both were erroneously thought to be boys, but as they grew and learned the ways of the world, they corrected this mistake. Since, in the wisdom of the Lands of Wa, it was known that the truth of a person is to be found in their heart, Shuuko and Makoto's parents put their trust in their daughters' words and allowed them to live true to their natures and in the names they had chosen.

There was but one blemish on the Princess' happiness – she was desperately – and unrequitedly – in love with Takatsuki, the handsome captain of the palace guard, whose steadfast though unromantic friendship could not but endear them further to the besotted princess.

All this was to change one day, when a warrior named Anna arrived at the palace gates. She was a beautiful woman, though worn and covered in dust from her travels. Princess Shuuko was immediately fascinated. Anna was like in face to the people of Wa, but wore armor made of metal rings, unlike the leather and iron armor worn by the palace guard, and the sword that hung by her side was straight, like the long knives carried by the pale-haired merchant who sometimes visited the palace, bringing wares from faraway lands. Strangest of all was the brown-scaled creature with eyes like fire that followed her like a dog. It looked a little like the majestic ryuu the princess had only seen in paintings, but far uglier, with a permanent snarl on its face.

The king granted Anna leave to stay in the palace for a few days to regain her strength, so long as she would tell tales of her many adventures. Her best audience was Princess Shuuko, joined at times by Lady Makoto, who would sit in the gardens and listen wide-eyed as Anna told of battling pirates and sea monsters, of stealing a magic ring from the King of Thieves, or of returning that ring to its rightful owners in the court of Faerie.

One afternoon, sitting with Anna in a private corner of the garden, the sun pleasantly warming her skin, Princess Shuuko asked about Anna's faithful companion.

“Oh, he's a wyvern. I call him Tristan.”

“How did you come to have him?”

Anna stroked the beast's ghastly head fondly. “I've had him since he was a baby. Found him abandoned in a cave, the poor lamb. Mewing for his mother. So I took him in. Isn't he the cutest thing?”

Cute was not, perhaps, the best choice of words. “Frightening” came to mind, or “hideous”. But Princess Shuuko wanted very, very much for Anna to like her, and she was a polite, proper young lady, so she just nodded.

“You can touch him if you want. He likes being scratched behind his ears, like a big cat.”

Princess Shuuko reached out a trembling hand to touch the beast, which was sitting at Anna's feet. She held it out flat to be sniffed like she would for a horse, and was rewarded with a lick of its hot tongue. Then she scratched behind its left ear. Its scales were softer than she had expected, and warm, as though lit by some inner furnace. It let her scratch for a moment, then snorted and laid its great head across her lap.

“He likes you!” said Anna, and the princess breathed a sigh of relief. “I find that wyverns are great judges of character. He once bit a warlock who was trying to bespell me.”

The wyvern turned his head, and Princess Shuuko obligingly scratched behind his other ear. Anna was smiling at her, and she looked beautiful, the sunlight bringing out the blue undertones in her long black hair.

“When you leave, can I go with you?” Princess Shuuko said this in a rush, then sat still, surprised at her own audacity.

Anna shook her head. “I'm afraid not, Princess. My life is a dangerous one, and I fear you are not well-suited for it. Also, I am afraid your parents might disapprove.”

“But I want to see the world! And I don't want to lose you!”

Anna ran a hand gently down the princess' face before leaning in and kissing her on the forehead. “Nor I you, Princess, but I had rather you stay here, safe, than to lose you somewhere out there to unknown dangers, coward that I am.”

“You're no coward!” cried the princess, shocked.

“Ah, but I am. Sometimes cowardice is wisdom. I will, however, talk to your father, and ask if I may stay on longer.”

* * *

Anna had struck up an easy companionship with Takatsuki, seeing them not as a rival but as a fellow warrior, to spar with and talk about weapons and armor. She was friendly with the King, Lady Makoto, and most of the members of the court, who, fond of the princess, were glad to see her so happy. She did, however, get a stern warning from the court enchantress, Yuki, who, having no children of her own, saw the princess as a sort of surrogate daughter, that she had best treat Princess Shuuko right, on pain of transformation into something unsavory.

The only person who was unhappy to see the princess growing closer to Anna was the queen.

“You should never have let that Anna into the palace. She'll steal our little Shuuko away, I know she will.”

“You were happy enough to see Maho married off last year, and she was only a year older than Shuuko is now,” said the king.

“That's true enough, but Maho is different! And who is Anna anyway? Some adventuress! We don't know anything about her! There's no way we can allow Shuuko to go with her!”

“Well, of course not,” said the king.

Takatsuki cleared their throat. “Sire, if I may make a suggestion?”

“Go ahead.”

“You could offer Anna a place in the palace guard. She's a good fighter and an expert in foreign weaponry and tactics. She'd be an asset, and I could keep a watchful eye on her.”

“Good idea, Captain! What do you think, my dear?”

“I'd rather we just sent her away, but Shuuko would be devastated.” The queen mulled it over. “Very well, she can stay for one year on the condition that she beat our Captain Takatsuki in a fight.”

* * *

The day of the duel, Princess Shuuko ran up to Anna, but didn't know what to say. Anna took her hands and smiled.

“Fear not, Princess. I'll be gentle.”

“Captain Takatsuki is strong. It is you I worry about.”

“Ah, but Princess... you've never seen me fight.”

* * *

Some say it was the hardest fight Anna ever fought. Some say it was the greatest duel the little kingdom had seen in the last hundred years. But all the tales agree on one point: in the end it was Takatsuki who stumbled back, blood seeping from a shallow cut in their side. Yuki rushed over to treat the wound while Anna sheathed her sword.

Princess Shuuko unclenched her hands from the railing she had been gripping and strode across the courtyard to Yuki and Takasugi.

“Will they be all right?”

Yuki was wrapping the wound tightly in a bandage. She chanted a few words and there was a little flash of light. Color gradually returned to Takatsuki's face.

“They'll be fine. I can't imagine what your mother was thinking though, really!”

Takatsuki patted her on the arm. “Thank you, Yuki. I feel much better. Don't worry about me.” They waved Shuuko's hand away and stood up on their own. “Really. Go see how Anna is doing.”

Princess Shuuko had barely taken two steps when Anna swept her into a hug, then picked her up and twirled her around in the air. She set her down, and Shuuko kissed her on the lips, in front of everyone.

Anna pushed her away. “Princess!”

“Oh... shouldn't I have?”

“It's not that I don't want to, but in front of your mother? You must know she doesn't approve!”

Princess Shuuko made the most determined expression Anna had seen on her yet. “She can't go back on her word now. I won't let her.”

Her words echoed through the courtyard. The queen didn't reply, but merely turned her back and left.

Princess Shuuko lead Anna to their favorite part of the palace gardens and kissed her again, this time tenderly, slowly.

“I was really afraid for you, you know.”

“I know,” said Anna. “But Takatsuki would never really hurt me.” She drew Shuuko into her arms.

“Is your life always this dangerous?”

“Usually.” Anna kissed Shuuko on the nose. “Still want to come with me?”

“More than ever.”

* * *

Over the year that followed, the princess worked harder than she ever had in her life. She learned spells from Yuki the enchantress and fighting from Anna and Takatsuki. She learned to care for horses and for Tristan the wyvern, how to start a fire, how to put on and clean her armor, and many other skills besides. Towards the end of the year she begged her parents for permission to accompany Anna, even on a short trip.

“I say we let them,” said Shuuko's older sister, the crown princess Maho, who had come back from visiting her husband's family. “It's not as though they're going to elope or anything.”

“I certainly hope not!” said the queen.

“That's not your decision to make, Maho.” said the king.

“I can take care of myself now,” said Shuuko. “Probably better than Maho could when you let her get married.”

“Well, all right,” said the Queen. “But not too far!”

* * *

 

Anna and Shuuko's first trip was only to the next kingdom, but they took another trip, and then another, until at last Shuuko's parents relented and allowed them to marry and live together. They had many adventures together – it is said that they once met and befriended a unicorn, and that they parlayed a peace among the ryuu, as the dragons of the Lands of Wa were known. And though they never had any children, they lived happily ever after.

The end.


End file.
